The fact that it wasn’t for free meant that Ghislain had taken more than enough spoils to compensate for the runestones he had given.

Claude, still sweating nervously, asked cautiously, “So, Count Perdiem and his retainers know nothing about this?”

“They don’t. Digald was infamous for being dirt poor. Everyone assumes they spent all their wealth on the war. That’s what I reported, too.”

Ghislain had rushed to Digald as soon as the war was over.

While one of his intentions was to eliminate Count Digald to prevent any future threats, a larger motive was to gather the nobles’ wealth.